Skyrim:The Heart of Dibella

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The temple dedicated to Dibella, the goddess of love, beauty, and artistry, is located in Markarth. It is maintained by several priestesses and Hamal. If you speak to the innkeeper, Kleppr, or his wife, Frabbi, in the Silver-Blood Inn, they will tell you about the beggar Degaine: "Degaine the beggar got himself kicked out of the Temple of Dibella. Caused quite the ruckus." Degaine himself can usually be found begging near the marketplace, and upon approaching him he will express his interest in stealing a statue: "Aye, a whole heap of it. You see that Temple? Way up there. All them women, keeping to themselves. Won't let poor Degaine in, no. Not even for a look. But they've got a treasure in there. Gold statue, size of a child. Who knows what they use it for, but I know what I'll use it for." Inquiring as to why he wants to steal the statue, he will tell you: "Well let's not put it like that. Wouldn't want the Thieves Guild catching wind of us, eh? Nah, just creep in and have a go at taking it out. I'll be here, and pay you half of what my man in Riften promised for it. You'll be helping out an old beggar, and the Divines smile on that sort of thing." The statue itself is located within the Inner Sanctum of the temple. This makes finding the temple itself easier, but is not necessary to initiate The Heart of Dibella quest.

Upon entering the temple, you will find the priestess Senna, who will inform you that: "The sisters are communing with Dibella. They can't be disturbed. You'll have to come back another time." In order to access the Inner Sanctum, you can either try to pick the expert-lock, or steal the key from Senna. Note that if you choose to pick the lock, you'll have to do it twice—once to get into the Sanctum, and once to get out.

Exalted Protocol of the Dibellan Sybil

Communing with Dibella

If you are caught by one of the priestesses, they will exclaim: "What are you doing in here? Stay where you are. The mother will deal with you." If you ask who their "mother" is, they will direct you to speak with Hamal. She will then initiate conversation by saying: "And just what do you think you're doing?" If you tell her that you were curious about the temple, she will tell you: "Unfortunately for you, we don't allow men/the uninitiated into the inner sanctum." Hamal will then continue: "You have committed a breach, and must pay the penalty." Asking what the penalty is, she will elaborate: "Normally, a quick death/period of servitude. Luckily for you, there are more pressing matters. We could make an example of you, but perhaps you could be put to better use." Also asking what use that would be, she will explain: "The ceremony you so rudely interrupted was the Exalted Protocol of the Dibellan Sybil. I don't expect you to know what that means. Suffice to say that our Sybil was recently lost to us. Through the Protocol, we have seen the home of the next Sybil, to the north, in a small village pressed against the stone. If you can travel there, and retrieve our young Sybil, your transgression will be forgiven."

If you choose to steal the statue for Degaine, and are confronted by one of the priestesses, she will inform Hamal. At this point, if you threaten them, the priestess will say: "If that's how you choose to end your life, so be it." If you allow yourself to speak with Hamal, you can tell her that you only came here for the statue. She will then reply with: "So be it. We gave you a choice." Both responses result in the priestesses becoming hostile and attacking you. Since none of them are essential (with the exception of Senna), they can die as a result, causing you to be unable to complete The Heart of Dibella quest. Once you have retrieved the statue, you can turn it over to Degaine who will hastily say: "Give it to me quickly, before they see us together. You've riled up the priestesses, and the guards don't take kindly to that. Here's your share. Nicely done." He then gives you 150 gold in exchange for the statue. However, if you managed to steal the statue unnoticed, you may return to the temple and purposely get noticed in order to start the quest The Heart of Dibella.

If you choose to help the priestesses find the new Sybil, you are directed to visit Karthwasten and locate the young girl's father, Enmon, who may be found working in the mine or at the smelter. If you speak to any of the local residents, they will all direct you to speak to him as well. If you tell him that you are looking for his daughter, he will retort: "Damn it, man/woman, are you trying to taunt us?" Asking him what he meant, he will explain: "Our daughter, Fjotra, was taken from here. The Forsworn descended and... they didn't touch anything else. Just our little girl." Also asking where they took her, he will continue: "It was the Forsworn from Broken Tower. Never been much trouble before. What's it to you?" You can now respond to him in two different ways:

If you tell Enmon that you just want his daughter to be safe, he will remark: "That's... that's good of you. If you were to save her, I would be very grateful. I don't think there's anything I could give you, though..." However, if you tell Enmon that Fjotra is the new Sybil of Dibella, he will say: "She... really? That's... I wouldn't have dreamed. Of course, we need her in Markarth, then. I'll come with you." If you agree that he should travel with you, he will thank you and accompany you to Broken Tower Redoubt. Note that if you take him along with you, he is a non-essential NPC, and can die. You can also tell him that he should stay, and he will reply with urgency: "You're... probably right. Just hurry, please. Who knows what those things are doing to her." You are now directed to travel to the Broken Tower Redoubt and rescue Fjotra from the Forsworn holding her captive.

Making your way through the Broken Tower Redoubt, you can find Fjotra in her cell, guarded by a Forsworn Briarheart. After you have defeated the Briarheart and freed her, she will ask: "Are you one of them? Please don't hurt me." When you tell her that you are to bring her to the Temple in Markarth, she will exclaim: "Then it is true what they said? I am touched by the gods?" Her suspicions confirmed, Fjotra will then accept her title as the new Sybil of Dibella: "I've heard stories about the wonders of the great Temple in Markarth. But I never dreamed that I would even get to see it. I am honored to be called for this duty. Please, lead on."

A final farewell

You must now return Fjotra to the Temple to become the new Sybil of Dibella, but you also can take a detour to Karthwasten, so Fjotra can say goodbye to her parents, Enmon and Mena, who will give her a very heart-warming farewell:

Enmon:"Fjotra!"Fjotra:"Father!"Enmon:"Fjotra, dear. Did they hurt you?"Fjotra:"Of course not. My spirit remains strong."Enmon:"My little girl. Always strong. Do you know where you have to go?"Fjotra:"I'm to go to the temple in Markarth. I... I'll have to leave you and mother."Enmon:"It's our honor to have you there. This man/woman is going to take you to Markarth. Are you ready?"Fjotra:"Of course."

Afterwards, Enmon will approach and thank you: "Thank you for getting her back from the Forsworn. Dibella was smart to have sent you." You can now return to Hamal in the Temple of Dibella in Markarth to complete the quest.

Upon arriving back at the temple, Hamal will be grateful for the safe return of Fjotra: "You... you found her? I can't believe it. Let the girl come with me and we can begin her preparation. I will send word to her family that she is in good hands. You've truly earned the Blessing of Dibella, child. Prostrate yourself before her altar, and she will bestow her gift." You are now directed to kneel before and then drink the blessed water, which will bestow the Agent of Dibella passive ability. This grants an additional 10% physical damage against enemies of the opposite sex, and the quest will now be marked as complete.

The Statue of Dibella differs from the common Dibella Statues found across Skyrim.

The priestesses are sometimes targets of Thieves Guild quests. This may be used as another way to be led to the Inner Sanctum.

This quest only counts towards the Sidewaysachievement if you rescue Fjotra (quest stage 200); selling the statue to Degaine does not count as successfully completing The Heart of Dibella, although it does count towards the Hero of the People achievement.

If you have previously entered Broken Tower Redoubt and left the door to Fjotra's cell open, it will still be open when you return to rescue her.

Once you have completed this quest and received the ability Agent of Dibella you can take almost everything inside the temple, both upstairs and downstairs (excludes higher value potions, poisons, jewelry, soul gems and gems).

Degaine the beggar has asked me to steal a chalice from the Temple of Dibella in Markarth.

Objective 10: Steal the statue in the Temple of Dibella (if not already stolen)

20

Objective 20: Bring the statue to Degaine

The Heart of Dibella (T01)

60

To appease the priestesses of Dibella, I have agreed to find the young girl who will be their next Sybil. It's been prophesied that she lives in the village of Karthwasten, to the north of Markarth.

Objective 60: Find the future Sybil of Dibella

70

To appease the priestesses of Dibella, I have agreed to find the young girl who will be their next Sybil. The girl must be rescued from the Forsworn who have kidnapped her.

Objective 70: Rescue Fjotra from the Forsworn

80

Objective 80: Bring Fjotra to the Temple

100

Objective 100: Pray at Dibella's Altar

200

After offending the priestesses of Dibella, I paid for my offense by rescuing their new Sybil from the Forsworn.

205

I stole a statue from the Temple of Dibella and sold it to the beggar Degaine.

210

Unknown

Objective 10: Enter the Temple of Dibella

Objective 20: Steal statue of Dibella

Objective 30: Give the statue to Degaine

The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table:

T01Intro: 20.

T01DegaineFavor: 0, 100, 200.

T01: 0.

Notes

Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.

Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.

Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.

If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.

On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage T01 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest T01.